Outfield prospect Carson Benge is going to break camp with the Mets, reports Mike Puma of The New York Post. He will be the starting right fielder on Opening Day, per Chelsea Janes of SNY. The Mets will need to open a 40-man spot in order to officially select Benge’s contract.
The move is notable but not shocking. During the offseason, president of baseball operations David Stearns consistently said that Benge would have a chance to break camp with the club. The 19th overall pick from 2024, he mashed his way through High-A and Double-A last year.
He seemed to stall out at Triple-A, with a .178/.272/.311 line in 24 games to finish the year, but there were reasons to not worry about that too much. His 18.4% strikeout rate was good and his 8.7% walk rate around average. His .188 batting average on balls in play was tiny. It seemed more like fluky bad luck than a young hitter being overmatched.
The Mets, as mentioned, wanted to leave a path open for him to reach the big leagues. They did bring in some contingency plans. They signed Mike Tauchman to a minor league deal. MJ Melendez got a 40-man spot but still has an option. It felt like the right field job would be Benge’s to lose and he didn’t do anything to lose it. He hit .366/.435/.439 in Grapefruit League action. That line got some help from an unsustainable .469 BABIP but the Mets were trending towards giving Benge the job as long as he didn’t look overwhelmed.
Melendez was optioned to the minors last week. The Mets were perhaps trending towards rostering both Benge and Tauchman, but the latter tore the meniscus in his left knee a few days ago. That only gave Benge a firmer hold on the job.
There’s always risk in handing a job over to a prospect, as even some very talented young players struggle when first called up, but Benge has shown he deserves a shot. Even including his Triple-A swoon, he hit a combined .281/.385/.472 last year for a 150 wRC+. He stole 22 bases. His defensive abilities are considered strong enough for him to be a plus corner outfielder and maybe even a decent center fielder. He’ll begin the season in right but it’s not out of the question that he eventually spends a decent amount of time in the middle spot with center field manned by the oft-injured Luis Robert Jr..
By carrying Benge on the Opening Day roster, the Mets will open up the possibility of the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He’s a consensus top 25 prospect in the league. If he stays in the majors for enough of the campaign to earn a full year of service, he could net the Mets an extra draft pick by winning Rookie of the Year or with a top three finish in MVP voting during his pre-arbitration seasons.
If things don’t go well with Benge, then the Mets will have to turn to some backup plans. Tauchman has an opt-out in his minor league deal but presumably won’t trigger it while hurt, so he’ll be back in the mix whenever he’s healthy again. Melendez will be on optional assignment in Triple-A, alongside Jared Young and Nick Morabito. Brett Baty is going to be in a super utility role now that Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien are at third and second base respectively. Tyrone Taylor will be on the bench as a glove-first fourth outfielder. The Tauchman injury might also allow Vidal Bruján to stick on the bench in a utility role.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Mitch Alcala, Imagn Images
Certainly one of the biggest breakout candidates for 2026
Definitely saw that happening. How bout those Mutts?!?!?!?!?!
How does it feel to have the best Yankee ever and not be able to ever win a championship with him? AND HE DROPPED THE BALL!
I thought Babe Ruth died in 1948
That’s awesome. I feel bad for Mike T., but hopefully Carson kills it. ⚡️
It begins. Cue the trolls. Benge will bury you
Let’s goooooo!
From what I saw he benefited from a higher than normal BABIP as his batted balls found holes so it wont surprise me if he starts slow. But he earned tge spot and he gas elite tools regardless.
Five o’clock somewhere eh
Thank you for a realistic, objective take on this player. He’s a great talent. but eh does not walk on water, and his spring was not as unquestionably perfect as the and and press chose to see. Specifically, where was his power and when/how often did he actually drive the ball?
One of the worst kept secrets this spring. He deserves it played well all spring. Had productive at bats, as well as solid RF. He may start off slow but put him at the bottom of the lineup to begin so as to take as much pressure off him as possible. Don’t bench him after a couple of weeks like they kept doing with Acuna, give him a real chance.
Mendoza will screw him up. I would’ve waited until the clubhouse culture was better and more stable. An impressionable kid like that could easily stunt his development being surrounded by the dysfunction
What dysfunction? Any problems from last year were dealt with in the purge. Half the starting lineup is new. They haven’t even started the season, and there’s no reports of clubhouse problems, except in your mind.
Slider: you’re kidding right?
Slider_withcheese makes these ragebaiting comments to get a reaction out of people. It’s corny.
I find it strange if PPI motivates teams at all.
It’s just so unlikely that Benge (or any player) hits any of those marks. (He’s not even the leading ROY candidate on his own team, never mind in the NL).
They should lower the bar- top 3 ROY, top 10 MVP.
I always took PPI as trying to prevent service time manipulation for no doubt super stars rather than encouraging teams to accelerate the promotion schedule for top prospects.
Welcome to The Show, kid
So the below will be the opening day lineup?
1. Lindor – SS
2. Soto – LF
3. Bichette – 3B
4. Polanco – 1B
5. Baty – DH
6. Robert – CF
7. Semien – 2B
8. Alvarez – C
9. Benge – RF
I would consider using:
Lindor
Bichette
Soto
Polanco
Robert
Baty
Alvarez
Benge
Semien
Why do you prefer Bo before Soto? Maybe I’m being over simplistic but Soto draws many walks and Bo hits well.
ROY incoming
He’ll lose out. . .to Nolan McLean!
Tauchman’s injury might have saved Taylor’s spot more than allowing Benge to claim one
Taylor wasn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately.
Bill: I’ll push back slightly and say that Taylor is an excellent bench piece/4th OF/defensive replacement. He’s one of the best OF defenders in the league. His hitting is not good enough to be a starter but I love having him on the roster.
Taylor has been a great Met
Sdubs: good.
Rsox: baseless.
All of this Taylor-bashing is utterly moronic. So he had a terrible year. For his career, his OPS and OPS+ are at or above league average. He has never done well in an extended everyday role, which is how the Mets used him last year. But he’s always thrived as role player. Plus, the Mets don’t have another legitimate defensive CF behind the injury-prone Robert Jr.
Benge and Ewing are the future.
That is merely speculation at this point. And even if they are, we have no idea how long into the future they really are. In 2023, Baty was rated as highly as Benge is now, if not higher. And how long has it taken him to arrive? Has he even arrived yet, or was he just a half-season flash in the pan last year? We still don’t know.
LGM
Can’t be any worse defensively than the player he is replacing in RF (Soto), so he’s got that going for him.
Now let’s see the bat a couple months after rival scouts and pitchers have had a look at him. I wonder how much wiggle room the front office gives him? It will probably depend where the Mets are in the standings.
It’ll depend on his K rate, BB rate, whether he’s hitting the ball hard, whether he’s accepting or resisting instruction, seeing the ball well, if his routes are crisp, and etc.
If Carson Benge batted .254 with 18 hrs, with 3.1 WAR in 130 games how would you rank his rookie season?
@Banned
Those are pretty much Baty’s 2025 numbers. I think the question should be framed will he outperform Tauchman, the player who he was competing against for RF playing time? We shall find out. However, we hope never to see Soto in RF. One of Stearn’s goal was to improve the defense.
@RagingBull I posted the question because most Met fans hate Baty for no reason. He is an above average player and he gets treated like a bench bat
Not me. I love Baty. Great attitude. Has the support of teammates. Should get all at bats versus RHP either at first, DH, LF or even third to give Bichette, Soto, Polanco days off from the field.
(Semien’s value is IN the grass, so didn’t mention him):
Apples to oranges… Because Baty did not post those numbers in his rookie year. It took him four years to finally reach that level. If he HAD done that his rookie year, people never would have lost faith in him. But thats not what happened. He struggled for three and a half years before having – not a successful season, but a half of one. Because when he did perform, it was mostly in the second half of the season (.829 second half OPS vs. .685 first half), and more against RHers (.765 OPS vs .678). Plus, he got only 18% of his ABs against lefties when they represents 28% of the league’s pitching.
So if someone has questions about his effectiveness as an every day player, they’re not out of line.
The platoon split issue you bring up is valid. It occurs to me that the Mets may sit Roberts Jr. for some RHP’s and play Benge/Baty or Taylor/Baty as CF/RF on those days.
Pitching not great but improved significantly not too worried about it.
The back of the lineup is underwhelming. I’m not expecting semien to so anything with his bat. Don’t think Roberts will be any good either. We really expecting Baty and Vientos to show up this season.
Everyone in early ST was talking about Semien bouncing back as if it was likely. He’s 35. He’s in obvious decline. He’s far more likely to continue to decline at the plate and on the field. The Mets will be fortunate if they get one more season from him where he’s a competent, 2-win regular, then slides into the backup 2B-SS role or is simply cut.
A great player with HOF skills, but he didn’t *really* figure it out until he was 28. From 2018-2024 he was as productive as Soto, by bWAR.
smashers: “the back of the lineup is underwhelming”
Their opening day lineup last season was:
Lindor (SS), Soto (RF), Alonso (1B), Vientos (3B), Nimmo (LF), S. Marte (DH), Taylor (CF), Acuña (2B), Torrens (C). Jessie Winker was slated to split duty with Marte at DH. Jose Siri was supposed to play CF. Acuna was a slap hitting, glorified pinch runner. Francisco Alvarez was hurt and couldn’t hit his way out of a paper bag until following a mid-season demotion to AAA. Alonso is the only significant loss to the team and he’s being almost replaced in the aggregate by Polanco alone.
Their projected lineup this season:
Lindor (SS), Soto (LF), Bichette (3B), Polanco (1B/DH), Baty (DH/1B), Robert (CF), Benge (RF), Semien (2B), Alvarez (C).
Chop
That’s absolutely ridiculous to say that Pete’s production is going to be replaced by polonco. Not only does Pete never miss games but he’s got a career worth of proof that says he’s a consistent premier power bat who has the ability to control the zone and still give you an average over .260 in 4/7 pro seasons.
Polocno has hit 20 or more homers once in the last 4 years and has hit .260 3 times in that span. Not to mention he had a .212 average with a sub .650 OPS in 24 plus he misses games as evident by the fact he’s played more then 140 games in a season twice in his entire career. he is NOT a middle of the order bat.
Semien has been a shell of a former solid hitter for 2 years. He’s gonna be lucky to hit .250 with 20 homers going from a consistently warm weather state to one where the ball is going to die in the colder months. Yes he plays fine defense but that doesn’t help the bat.
Bo played his entire career in a division with not only 2 domes(which eliminated the wind and temp) but also the smallest parks in all of baseball and still was really only a mid 20 homer guy who doesn’t walk and needs his average to be above average to be productive and is a walking injury.
LRJ is dog water. He hasn’t had an OPS of over .665 in 3 years, has hit more than 14 homers once in his career and is a walking injury. Hes got a horrible Chase rate and doesn’t draw walks. He’s basically an overpaid Tyrone Taylor but worse defensively and slower and yet another walking injury.
Baty is going to lose all the momentum he gained last year when that nepo baby Mendoza and that moron sterns force him to bounce around the field and line up every day like the Mets did with McNeil. When Jeff was locked in at one position and one spot in the line up for a full season he was a batting champ. Then they’d shift him around and he’s bat would suffer because guys need consistency to be successful.
TLDR but I’m sure you made some nice points.
I’m just curious, are you going to root against Semien, Bichette and Polanco because they replaced Alonso, Nimmo and McNeil?
New season, hopefully new result.
J dawg
No ofcourse not. I want them all the have career years and make me look like an absolute idiot. Nothing would make me happier, truly. It’s just not gonna happen. lol.
It will happen! Confidence! It’s going to be a fun year I think.
Jdawg
After watching 35 years of collapse after collapse and bad signing after bad signing and watching players leave and then become extremely good players elsewhere (Justin turner) that confidence is just straight gone. Hahahaha.
Since 1973 for me. Six years old. In a family of Yankee fans.
To me, losing Staub, Seaver, Koosman was infinitely more painful than the current three.
Dawg
Thankfully I wasn’t around back then but also from a family of Yankee fans. Just me and my dad against everyone else on both his and mom’s side. lol.
That 07 September still haunts my dreams tho.
It has been a wonderful ride, except three heartbreakers.
The day Seaver was traded.
Losing to the Yankees in the WS
The day Staub was traded.
I know he had some games at AAA last year but it was a small sample. I hate skipping levels for prospects. I’m not saying it can’t work but I’ve never heard of a player failing in the MLB because they spent too much time at AAA. However, the tale of rushing a prospect gets told time and time again.
Hopefully this works out for the kid (sorry Met fans have him on my dynasty squad) but I wish they would let him prove himself at AAA first. Dominate AAA (even if it’s for 3 weeks) then come up. Why the need to rush?
Let’s see what the young man can do. He made Gilbert expendable last year
Gilbeert was expendable because his CF defense never came around. The idea that Gilbert was a future starting CF was more NY media gaslighting than reality. The actual scouts and rankings tabbed Gilberts ceiling (read again: c e i l i n g) as corner OF if his pwoer grows, or 4th OF if it doesn’t
Just because most Yankees prospects hilariously stall after AAA doesn’t mean Benge will struggle.
lol way to take a baseball conversation and turn it into some Yankees-Mets nonsense. I’m a baseball fan young man so you can take that NY ignorance elsewhere…..same with the Yankee fans who act the same way. I have no time for either idiotic fan bases so if that’s what your after move along to someone else.
Yanks4life: I agree the Yanks bashing isn’t enjoyable reading and we can do without it.
What? The Yankees have stunted every single one of their top hitting prospects since Judge because they played in AAA too long.
Mets are actually doing something smart and taking a chance on one of the guys they developed.
The Yankees farm system is probably the worst to use as an example. They were/are incapable of developing anyone. I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes but it might’ve been one of the worst coached/administered farm systems of all time for about a 10-15 year period.
So much so that players like Clint Frazier spoke out against it because it was ruining talented players careers.
I doubt the Mets were going to let him flounder in AAA for years to come if they sent him down anyway. I’d just always like to see a player prove themselves at a level before being promoted. Spring training is a very hard gauge on results and competition.
I think the kid will be okay regardless. I really like his profile and tools and he seems to be mature enough to make the necessary adjustments.
AAA is not necessarily the league to prove oneself anymore.
Though there is often ML-almost talent and rehab MLers, for the most part the prospect talent is often at AA.
Not a perfect analysis by any stretch, but I think GMs generally place less emphasis on success at the AAA level. Plenty of guys with AAA dominance and extra time there fall flat in ML.
Yes, but guys who do not succeed in AAA have even less success in the majors.
Well said.
Playing Polanco at 1B is nuts. He INEVITABLY declines at the plate when he plays the field, gets hit w/ nagging injuries, and underperforms. If the Mets use Baty or Vientos at 1B whenever they’re itching to put Polanco there, they can only improve.
It’s good to see a team in NYC that plays their young top talent.